Solid hiring by the Sixers — championship-caliber, to be exact.
The Philadelphia 76ers are hiring Nick Nurse as their new head coach to replace the ousted Doc Rivers, handing him the challenge of delivering the franchise their first NBA championship in 40 years, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Throughout Sunday and Monday, both the Sixers and Phoenix Suns were in conversations with Nurse and his agent Andy Miller, reported Klutch Sports, which ultimately led to Nurse making a tough decision between two contenders, sources told ESPN.
There are two reasons why Nurse decided to commit to Philadelphia (via ESPN): 1. He wants to coach MVP Joel Embiid, and 2. He has a history with Daryl Morey, who is the president of basketball operations for the 76ers. According to Woj’s sources, Nurse shined during his interview after selling the Sixers a vision that’s centered around Embiid.
Nurse won an NBA title as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
ESPN Sources: Nick Nurse has reached an agreement to become the next coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. Nurse — who won an NBA championship and a coach of year award with Toronto — now gets to coach the 2023 MVP Joel Embiid. pic.twitter.com/SrsXhzx7Y3
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 29, 2023
I can dig what the Sixers did here.
And honestly, they impressed me with how they handled their entire process to hire a new head coach. I mean, holy cow, they interviewed a ton of names (with multiple big fish being involved) and were very careful with who they gave the keys to. And to settle on Nick Nurse — the same Nick Nurse who already has a ring on his finger from just four years ago?
Yeah, I’m diggin’ this move from Philly. (RELATED: Miami Heat Avoid Historic Collapse To Gloriously Punch Their Tickets To The NBA Finals; Beat Boston Celtics, 4-3)
But the sports curse that city has …
It’ll be interesting to see what happens, I’ll just leave it at that. (I don’t want to anger those people.)